Going Deeper with Jesus
With the help of Bauckham's "Jesus: A Very Short Introduction."
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. -Colossians 1:19-20
The question “Who is God?” is most clearly answered by a deepened knowledge of Jesus. This was the conclusion of our previous post. How, then, do we get to know Jesus?
Like those Westerners who seek a greater understanding of God through popular books, many who seek to know Jesus follow the same strategy. Again, far too many of these writers are searching, not for God, not for Jesus, but to validate their views by retelling the story of Jesus in a way that supports their own interests and ideas. It would be far better to find a scholar who begins with the content of the gospels and draws out key themes. This would prepare us for a deeper reading of the earliest sources contemporary with Jesus’ life: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
That is what Dr. Richard Bauckham, senior scholar of theology and New Testament at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, does in his book “Jesus: A Very Short Introduction”. Bauckham himself tells us that his approach to Jesus is a contextual telling of the story of Jesus, interpreting the Gospels as ancient history. The gospels offer us insight into the ways Jesus was experienced by his contemporaries and how their lives were affected by him.
There are many insights about Jesus in his book, but let’s look at two key questions of Bauckham:
How would you summarize Jesus’ message for humanity?
How did Jesus bring this message to us?
Let’s look at what the Bible says in response to the first question. (Next week we will go deeper with Jesus by focusing on the second question.)
We’ll focus on the biblical answer to the first question. Then, next week we will continue to go deeper with Jesus by shifting to the gospel’s answer to the second question.
Before continuing, pause a moment and summarize Jesus’ message in your own words.
Here are several ways you could sum up his message according to the Scriptures:
a) One of the parables, for example, the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)1
b) Jesus’ boiling down the law to love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:35a-40) 2
c) Jesus died for us. (John 3:16-17)3
d) Something else?
Bauckham’s response, in one word, is “kingdom.” Jesus brought the kingdom to humanity.
Jesus lived in a time when “kingdom” was the central institution of power, not the stuff of Cinderella stories. In fact, his people were under the oppressive kingdom of the mighty Roman Empire. The Romans offended the Jewish people daily with their actions, including:
violating the sanctity of the Temple,
taxing the people of Israel in a system primarily beneficial to Romans and the local Jewish elites who supported them,
believing the success of the empire was due to their pagan gods.
Sure, Israel had a half-Jewish king, but Herod was little more than a Roman stooge. They could remember the freedom and pride of their own Davidic Kingdom, and they longed for its return. Not only this, but they had a long-running promise that God would use them, someday, to acknowledge the God of Israel as the true and only God. It seemed obvious to many that the next step in fulfilling their purpose was to overthrow their oppressors and regain their independent kingdom.
Yet none of these political and religious struggles swayed Jesus from his own calling. He, like John the Baptist, paid little attention to Roman rule. But he did speak often of the Kingdom. In fact, both Mark and Matthew summarize Jesus’ preaching in the phrase “The kingdom…has come near.”
So, let’s dive a bit deeper into the concept of the Kingdom of God. The term, used by Jesus, is not about a castle surrounded by a moat and accessed by a drawbridge. It wasn’t synonymous with the physical kingdom of Israel. It wasn’t really about a physical location at all. Instead, as Bauckham reminds us, the activity of God in the gospels is a way of life; a way of life that has broken into human life:
Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’ -Mark 1:14b-15
If it isn’t physical, then how do we recognize it when we see it?
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, - Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ - because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” -Luke 17:20-21
It isn’t something we look for in the future. It is already here.
From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ -Matthew 4:17
Not only that, but Jesus himself experienced it. And it energized and guided his ministry. For example:
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. -Luke 10:21.
People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. -Mark 10:13-14.
Is there, then, a place for us in this kingdom? It seems so. This kingdom’s surprising population is not just children. Speaking to church leaders, Jesus said:
Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. -Matthew 21:31
So, how do we enter this kingdom? We can enter when we are ready to radically change our lives.
Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. -John 3:3
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” -John 3:4-8
With just this focus on the kingdom of God other passages and parables come together. Jesus’ teaching on the Good Samaritan has that radical inclusion that his words about children, tax collectors, and prostitutes in the kingdom have. John 3:16 speaks of God’s ultimate act, through Jesus, to give us entry into the kingdom. And Jesus’ summary of the law defines what matters most to the kingdom.
As the two commands of loving God and neighbor are the backbone of the law upon which all the others hang, so the theme of the kingdom, a new way of life available to us in Jesus, is the backbone upon which Jesus’ other teachings come together.
Next week we will look at this new way of life in more detail and discuss what gave Jesus the right to proclaim such a radical thing during his ministry on earth.
Luke 10:25-37: On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘What is written in the Law?’ he replied. ‘How do you read it?’ He answered, ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”[a]; and, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” ‘You have answered correctly,’ Jesus replied. ‘Do this and you will live.’ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said, “and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.” ‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’ The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’
Matthew 22:35a-40: …an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’
John 3:16-17: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.